[GVARC] April Newsletter
Tony
[email protected]
Tue, 23 Apr 2002 17:47:17 -0700
************************* Garlic Valley ******************************
Volume 17 Apr 2002
******************* Amateur Radio Club Newsletter ********************
GVARC OFFICERS
President Frank Fahrlander, N7FF
Vice President Ed Vines, KG6WU
Secretary Mark Deger, KG6IFQ
Treasurer Tony Armendariz, AD6ID
Newsletter Editor Tony Armendariz, AD6ID
WEBster Claud Furnare, NA6W
Web Site http://www.qsl.net/gvarc
FEATURES IN THIS ISSUE:
NEXT CLUB MEETING
GVARC MEMBERSHIP
FREE WORLD RADIO SUBSCRIPTIONS
UP AND RUNNING COVERAGE
AC4YN/G5YN/SK
TX CLASSROOM DE ISS, OVER
EXPANDED CONTEST COVERAGE ON ARRL WEB
NORTH KOREA, VIETNAM, THAILAND ACTIVE
FCC VANQUISHES VANITY BACKLOG
AMATEUR RADIO IN NEW IMAX FILM
May 2002 CONTESTS
COMING EVENTS
***NEXT CLUB MEETING - Saturday, 27-Apr-02
--------------------
GVARC usually meets on the LAST Saturday of each month, at the Little
House Restaurant in Gilroy on Monterey Avenue (near the car dealers in
front of Motel 6). From the North or South, take the Monterey St. exit
from highway 101 (south end of Gilroy) and head north. We trickle in
about 8 a.m. and eat at 8:30ish. The South County ARES net is held
each Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. on K6THR/R (147.825 -.600, no PL).
***GVARC MEMBERSHIP
-------------------
Dues for all members become payable each January. The annual cost is
only $20 per person and $10 for each family member in the same
household. Membership dues helps such things as the K6THR/R repeater,
this newsletter, emergency readiness, etc. Membership, not required for
general use of the repeater, adds autopatch and autodial privileges.
GVARC is a non-profit organization per IRS section 501(c)(4) - we
don't make any money, do service for the community, but are not a
charity.
To join or for more information, please contact the treasurer:
Tony Armendariz, AD6ID
11950 New Avenue
Gilroy, CA 95020
408-683-2025 home
Internet: [email protected]
***FREE WORLD RADIO SUBSCRIPTIONS
---------------------------------
We have eight 1 year subscriptions to World Radio to hand out to
club members. Since I have them, I thought I'd offer one to each member
who contributes a story to this newsletter.
The write ups don't have to be polished; I will do that (Editor,
right?). The best kind is something local and personal; something from
your own experience.
More about World Radio at http://www.wr6wr.com/.
***UP AND RUNNING COVERAGE
--------------------------
The Ham Radio coverage for the annual Up and Running race in Cupertino
was a success again. We had (a lucky) 13 ham radio operators participate
this year. Eight of the 13 were GVARC members - FB! (See the list below)
Some others had planned to participate but things came up at the last
minute for them. A great big thanks to everyone of them.
With our group we were able to cover the most important locations during
the race.
Ken and Pam were net control again this year and they did a great job as
usual.
We had Jim riding with one of the two mobile EMTs. Woody was stationed
at the Medical tent. Only one injury was reported this year. It was
handled by having the mobile EMT bring the runner back to the Medical
tent.
Traffic problems and abusive driver behavior were the main problems
reported by hams around the race route. After the race, Willie was able
to discuss some of what he saw with the course monitor crew leader. I
encouraged those of you who have any suggestions for improving the event
to please send me an e-mail giving what they saw and how it could be
improved.
I enjoyed being a part of this event this year and the folks running it
are tops! I sincerely appreciate all of the ham volunteers for being
there to support this worthy event!
Bill Culbertson, KG6FZL
Frank Fahrlander, N7FF
Henrik Aberg, KF6YBZ
Jim McMann, KF6WOR
Ken Check, W6SKI
Ken Nist, KQ6QV
Mark Deger, KG6IFQ
Pam Rhoten, KD6WQD
Skip LaFetra, AA6WK
Thom West, KD6CJX
Wayne Rhoten, KD6HMJ
Willie Maquinalez,Jr., KG6HJE
Woody Woodruf, W6MUG
-- Frank, N7FF
***AC4YN/G5YN/SK
----------------
Evan Nepean, G5YN, SK: The London Times reports that Sir Evan Nepean,
G5YN, ex-AC4YN, died March 11. He was 92. Nepean was active from Tibet
as AC4YN from 1936-1939. The Times said that Nepean was the
longest-serving member (75 years) of the Radio Society of Great Britain
(RSGB). According to the newspaper account, Nepean packed a transmitter
and home-built receiver across the 14,600-foot Natu La pass from India
into Tibet. The engine running the battery charger would not work at
Tibet's altitude, so a hand-cranked charger was built in India and
carried back to Tibet, the newspaper said. An AC4YN QSL card recently
sold on an Internet auction site for more than $1100.--John Warren, NT5C
***TX CLASSROOM DE ISS, OVER
----------------------------
The teenaged daughter of International Space Station crew member Dan
Bursch, KD5PNU, was among several juniors and seniors at Pflugerville
High School in Texas who got to speak to the astronaut April 5 via
Amateur Radio. The contact was arranged via the Amateur Radio on the
International Space Station--or ARISS--program. Emily Bursch declined,
however, to submit a question to her dad, in deference to her fellow
students.
After he'd answered a few of the students' questions, Bursch took a
moment to acknowledge his daughter's presence. "Hello, Emily! I miss
you," he said. "Hi, Daddy," Emily Bursch replied--at that point, in the
background.
While her father replied to several more questions, a teacher escorted
Emily to the speakerphone the class was using.
"Hi, this is Emily. Over!" she said to her father, at the time some 200
miles above Earth over Australia. Bursh replied excitedly, "I love you,
too, and I miss you."
"I love you too," Emily responded. The students' questions then resumed.
At the tail end of the contact, she attempted to speak with her dad
again, but the spacecraft already had gone out of range by then. During
an earlier ARISS contact with St Thomas the Apostle Episcopal School in
Nassau Bay, Texas, last month, Bursch got to chat briefly with his two
younger children--daughter Robyn, and son Jackson, both of whom also
asked questions.
"Emily admitted that she is able to talk to her father often through
NASA provided 'phone calls' and e-mail, but it was fun to watch her
friends as they experienced space communications for the first time,"
said Roy Walker, WA5YZD, who was on hand for the contact.
More than 100 other Pflugerville High School students listened in as
their classmates asked about life aboard the station and safety concerns
relating to space travel--14 questions in all. Most of the students were
enrolled in physics and science classes at the Texas high school. Bursch
told student An Tong that his most favorite thing to do during his free
time is look out the window and view Earth as it passes by.
Several students asked about physical fitness and staying in shape while
enduring long periods in microgravity. Others wanted to know what kind
of education, training and experience it takes to become an astronaut.
As for space tourists, Bursch said, he didn't have anything against the
idea. He noted that South African Mark Shuttleworth is scheduled to
visit the ISS soon.
Providing Earth station facilities for the event was Tony Hutchison,
VK5ZAI, in Australia--an ARISS veteran. Science Department Supervising
Principal Larry Bradley expressed appreciation to all who made the
experience possible for his students.
Listening in on the conference connection during the contact were members of the
ARISS international team, which was meeting in Montreal, Canada. "We
broke out in grins and with sighs of relief at the start of the QSO and
in simultaneous applause at the end," said ARRL's Rosalie White, K1STO,
a member of the ARISS committee.
ARISS is an international project with U.S. participation by the ARRL,
AMSAT and NASA. More information is available on the ARISS Web site
http://ariss.gsfc.nasa.gov.
--Roy Walker, WA5YZD, and Gene Chapline, K5YFL
***EXPANDED CONTEST COVERAGE ON ARRL WEB
----------------------------------------
ARRL has expanded its on-line coverage of ARRL-sponsored contests. A new
membership service supplements contest coverage in QST and enhances
what's already available via the ARRL Web site. The augmented coverage
premiered April 19 with the results of the 2001 ARRL November
Sweepstakes (CW). Among the new features is an interactive, searchable
database of contest line scores.
"Contesting has come a long way since the old paper logs, broken
pencils, and hand-scored results," said ARRL Contest Branch Manager Dan
Henderson, N1ND. "The addition of expanded ARRL contest results on our
Web site takes contest reporting to the next level."
Access to the new services is limited to ARRL members, who must first be
logged onto the ARRL Web site with user name and password. All expanded
coverage is linked from the ARRL Contest Results page
<http://www.arrl.org/contest/results/>.
In addition to the information normally presented in QST, the new
searchable database will include band-by-band QSO breakdowns for all
participants, as well as hours operated and any club affiliation. The
database will be searchable by call sign and entry class as well as by
ARRL section, division or club. Results can be sorted by several
criteria.
Another new feature is a more extensive Soapbox for each contest that
will allow entrants to share their observations and photographs right
after a contest.
Largely freed of the limitations of print media, the upgraded Web-based
coverage will treat ARRL members to a contest narrative that includes
more detailed analysis, more sidebar stories and more visual images than
what typically appears in QST. Updated contest category records also
will be part of the expanded coverage, with details for each entry
category and ARRL division and section plus overall category records.
ARRL continues to offer members and nonmembers a downloadable Adobe PDF
of the QST article for each contest as it becomes available, plus
contest rules and forms, the ARRL contest calendar, and the "Contest
Corral" from QST. ARRL members also may subscribe to the ARRL Contest
Rate Sheet <http://www.arrl.org/contests/rate-sheet/>, the new biweekly
e-mail newsletter for contesters that debuted in March.
Initially, the ARRL's expanded Web coverage will be a "work in
progress," Henderson said. "Formats of the on-line portion of our
contest coverage will be flexible, allowing us to improve its
presentation as we try to keep it as user-friendly as possible." The
Contest Branch welcomes feedback from members via e-mail,
[email protected], or telephone, 860-594-0232.
***NORTH KOREA, VIETNAM, THAILAND ACTIVE
----------------------------------------
P5/4L4FN QSL cards imminent: Bruce Paige, KK5DO, the QSL manager for
Ed Giorgadze, P5/4L4FN in North Korea says he expects to receive the
first printing run of P5/4L4FN QSL cards this week and hopes to have all
QSLs out by May 1. Paige said that any stateside operator who mails for
a QSL after May 15 must include 37 cents postage to cover the new
first-class mail rate going into effect June 30. "I have 2900 requests
for cards," he said. P5/4L4FN has made more than 6000 QSOs, and his stay
in North Korea has been extended until June 2003. Only SSB contacts with
P5/4L4FN have been approved for DXCC credit. He said P5/4L4FN continues
to frequent 21.225 MHz. Paige said P5/4L4FN will be on a trip to Vietnam
and Thailand from April 23 until May 4 and may also be on the air from
those countries.
-- ARRL
***FCC VANQUISHES VANITY BACKLOG
--------------------------------
The longstanding vanity call sign application backlog that had built up
as a result of mail problems last October is now history. The FCC issued
another 328 vanity call signs this week. That completed the processing
of applications received at the FCC's Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, office
through March 25--right at the typical 18-day vanity application waiting
period.
"We are back on track for vanity processing," an FCC Private Wireless
Division Licensing and Technical Analysis Branch staff member told ARRL.
While not ruling out any problems down the road, she indicated that
everything was working fine now and that the FCC would resume its normal
nightly vanity runs.
-- ARRL
***AMATEUR RADIO IN NEW IMAX FILM
---------------------------------
Amateur Radio again is getting a role on the silver screen, this time in
the new IMAX film called Space Station. The film includes a segment
depicting the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS)
program in action. ARISS team members will be on hand to demonstrate ham
radio to the press and invited moviegoers when the film has its first
screening Tuesday, April 16, at the National Air and Space Museum in
Washington, DC.
Several ham-astronauts also are expected to be in attendance. The movie
opens to the general public Friday, April 19. US International Space
Station crews have included at least one Amateur Radio operator. The
current Expedition 4 crew--Commander Yury Onufrienko, RK3DUO, and
astronauts Dan Bursch, KD5PNU, and Carl Walz, KC5TIE, is the first to
have all three members licensed.
The IMAX earthbound segments were filmed last August at Seabrook
Intermediate School in Texas. Students there enjoyed an ARISS contact on
September 4. The ISS segments was shot in January 2001 with Expedition 1
Commander Bill Shepherd, KD5GSL. The two segments were pieced together
during editing.
An international educational program, ARISS brings students from the US
and throughout the world together with ISS astronauts via ham radio,
which was one of the first payloads accepted aboard the ISS by NASA.
ARISS is sponsored by ARRL, AMSAT and NASA.
Coinciding with the IMAX film debut on April 16, second through
sixth-grade students at The Quogue School in Quogue, New York, will get
their turn behind the microphone to talk with either Bursch or Walz.
In 2000, Amateur Radio had a featured role in the science fiction
thriller Frequency.
--Jennifer Hagy, N1TDY
***May 2002 CONTESTS
-----------------------
Date Time (UTC) Mode Contest
----- --------- ------ --------------
01 1300-1900 CW AGCW-DL QRP Party
04-05 0000-2400 CW/SSB MARAC County Hunters
04-05 0000-2400 CW Ten-Ten International Spring QSO Party
05-11 0000-2400 SSTV Danish SSTV Contest
04-05 2 periods CW/SSB Connecticut QSO Party
04-05 2 periods CW/SSB Massachusetts QSO Party
04-05 1400-2300 CW/SSB Indiana QSO Party
04-05 2000-2000 CW/SSB ARI Int'l DX Contest
11-12 0000-2400 CW/SSB Oregon QSO Party
11-12 0000-0600 CW/SSB Nevada QSO Party
11-12 1200-1200 RTTY A.Volta RTTY DX Contest
11-12 2100-2100 CW/SSB/ SSTV CQ-M International DX
12 1700-2100 CW FISTS CW Spring Sprint
18-19 1800-1800 CW King of Spain Contest
18-19 2100-0200 CW/SSB Baltic Contest
25-26 0000-2400 CW CQ W W WPX Contest
-- http://home.online.no/~janalme/hammain.html
***COMING EVENTS
----------------
- Livermore Swap Meet - 1st Sunday of each month at Las Positas
College in Livermore, 7:00 AM to noon, all year. Talk in 147.045 from
the west, 145.35 from the east. Contact Noel Anklam, KC6QZK, (510)
447-3857 eves.
- Foothill Flea Market - may 2nd Saturday of every fairweather month.
See http://www.electronicsfleamarket.com moredetails and various
sponsors and specials.
***GVARC EMAIL LIST SUMMARY
---------------------------
[email protected] is the official list of GVARC members with
e-mail addresses. This is a closed list; Joining GVARC gets you on the
list. Anyone on the list can send to the list; no one else can.
[email protected] is a list of those interested in gvarc.
Anyone can join (with confirmation message) and any member may
unsubscribe freely. Members of the gvarc_cc list can send to the list.
No one else can send to the list. List administrators, Tony, AD6ID,
and Frank, N7FF. The list's web site is http://www.qth.net.
______________________________________
To leave GVARC list, Contact Tony Armendariz, [email protected]. If you're
a GVARC member with email, you must be on the list.